Concerns over Capita at Breckland Council

22nd June 2017

Having watched over the last thirty years how the planning system has been increasingly powerless in allowing communities to resist aggressive development applications which are not in keeping with the local character and identity of the town or village, I have long campaigned for a reform of the planning system to give more power back to local communities to shape development to better reflect the needs of the local community.

A recent decision by Capita, on behalf of Breckland Council, to recommend approval for the 50-home scheme by Gladman Developments in Mattishall, struck me, the residents and the local District and County Councillors as “bizarre” given that its ‘preferred site’ status in the emerging Local Plan was still under review.

That’s why I wrote to Capita at Breckland to query this decision, and as a result of my intervention, the site was been removed from the preferred site list. I will be meeting with Planning Officers at Breckland Council to discuss the matter further in the coming weeks.